Do drivers not realize they need to stop for pedestrians in Chicago? (legal, store)

[hindukid]

Originally Posted by Drover

Here's the deal: if you want to cross, start walking. If you're just standing there, drivers can't tell if you're just standing there or intending to cross. By walking out, you at least make your intentions known.

Part of the problem is that this "cars must stop for any pedestrian in any crosswalk anywhere" law is relatively new. In my opinion it also happens to be misguided and borderline dangerous, namely at crosswalks where the cross traffic has no other control device except the crosswalk itself. At a whole lot of these intersections the drivers can't even see the pedestrians until they're damn near in the path of oncoming traffic anyway, as they pop out from a line of parked cars. The idea that pedestrians should expect that they can just walk out into traffic no matter what the traffic flow and conditions are like and have traffic stop for them is neither practical nor safe. Given the thousand things a driver has to pay attention to on any given half-second in an urban driving environment, adding this random element to the mix is not a wise approach.

I agree that it is rather impossible for a driver to know if someone is trying to cross the street. They might be walking along it or perhaps standing there waiting for a bus or taxi.

OTOH, I am a very aggressive crosser. When my left side is clear I will cross to the middle of the road. Then I will be standing in the middle of the road trying to cross the second half of it, and drivers still don't stop. It seems like they all honestly have no clue that they should be stopping. if IL is going to do this, they probably need a lot more signs and driver education.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by ofcjim40

Wow. Urza's angry, better watch out from his rage. But thank you for "paying my salary" and I'll take my uneducated POS butt to hiding in a vacant lot and play Angry Birds on my cell phone so I don't get accused of harassment. LOL

I'm actually not gonna respond to this..... yet. I will save my response for a more appropriate thread.

[ofcjim40]

Well that would be a good thing seeing as you flew off on a Police tangent when all that a poster suggested was to call the cops if a dangerous situation was observed.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by Drover

Part of the problem is that this "cars must stop for any pedestrian in any crosswalk anywhere" law is relatively new.

I'm just singling this out, as a prior poster suggested this has always been the law, which is apparently not true:

Bike Walk Lincoln Park: In-street pedestrian crosswalk signs? We’ll take a few dozen, please!

Hey, Chicagoans: Stop at crosswalks – it's the law, Mary Schmich says - chicagotribune.com

I think Chicago drivers are too aggressive when it comes to pedestrians, but I think it's also a bigger issue of just how s***-or-get-off-the-pot is IMO our unofficial motto.

The real problem - and I'm looking at Officer Jim for some insight here beyond "we don't have the personnel" - is cops ticket cars for parking infractions but don't enforce traffic violations during rush hour. Inexcusable.

Because in addition to drivers behaving obnoxiously, pedestrians can be beyond stupid. I saw two this morning blithely ignoring a right-turn arrow and wandering across a major arterial, and the number of pedestrians who disrespect left-turn-arrows is legion in this town.

These kinds of things really, really screw up traffic and get everyone's blood pressure jacked up needlessly - if you've ever been a driver obeying the rules only to get stuck in (and then blocking) an intersection thanks to pedestrian practices like those, you know what I mean.

Respect is a two-way street. That said, you have to err on the side of safety, and the driver has 2,000 lbs of equipment on their side. I'd personally rather be rear-ended than run over a pedestrian any day, but if the City would own up to its responsibilities (again, where is the traffic violation enforcement?) we wouldn't need to have this conversation.

It shouldn't be a special event for the police to enforce rules of the road.

[nikitakolata]

Originally Posted by hindukid

OTOH, I am a very aggressive crosser. When my left side is clear I will cross to the middle of the road. Then I will be standing in the middle of the road trying to cross the second half of it, and drivers still don't stop. It seems like they all honestly have no clue that they should be stopping. if IL is going to do this, they probably need a lot more signs and driver education.

This is my experience every day when I cross North Avenue. I always end up crossing halfway and then waiting in the middle of the street for a minute before I can go the rest of the way. I hate it, honestly, because I never trust that drivers really see me. But, obviously, none of them has any clue they should stop to let me cross (or they all choose to ignore the law). In the four years I've been walking to the blue line I can count on one hand the number of times cars have stopped to let me cross in a crosswalk.

[eevee]

Originally Posted by nikitakolata

This is my experience every day when I cross North Avenue. I always end up crossing halfway and then waiting in the middle of the street for a minute before I can go the rest of the way. I hate it, honestly, because I never trust that drivers really see me. But, obviously, none of them has any clue they should stop to let me cross (or they all choose to ignore the law). In the four years I've been walking to the blue line I can count on one hand the number of times cars have stopped to let me cross in a crosswalk.

Yeah, North Ave is ridiculous. The intersections near the Cermak Produce a stoplight or stop sign of some sort considering how many cross the street to go there. The only lights along that stretch of road are at Western, Rockwell, and California and I don't think there are any stop signs either.

[snoylekim]

I thought the law was changed from 'yield to pedestrians' to 'must stop for pedestrians' recently .. as both a driver and pedestrian ..I'm with Drover on the side that the realities of urban traffic and pedestrian behavior make strict compliance problematic ..as a pedestrian, I'm reminded of the old commercial .. 'John and Jane had the right-of-way..now they're dead right..' ..defensive walking..I'm under no illusion that drivers even know the law, or will follow it .. This ain't California !!

[Chi-town Native]

At the very least, the City needs to understand that enforcing this law at individual intersections here and there (and only for a few hours) isn't going to be even remotely adequate if the goal is to change the culture.

[RelaxTakeItEasy]

Yep, I've even kicked a car about to hit me with my steel toe works boots before, out of frustration and they keep on driving/ignoring me.

[TheCalifornianWriter]

Originally Posted by almost3am

It is such a difference between L.A. and Chicago. In LA, pedestrians waited at corners for the walk sign and drivers respected crosswalks. It goes both ways in Chicago, people just randomly cross the roads and drivers don't stop.

Ain't that the truth? When I visited Chicago, NO ONE in a car stopped for us as we walked across the street.

I felt like doing that stereotypical thing where you hit the hood of the car and say "Watch it, buddy!"